Ex-NCDMB Boss, Wabote, clashes with Minister Lokpobiri over alleged $500m mismanagement claims

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, has doubled down on his controversial statement at The Petroleum Club’s quarterly event in Lagos, alleging that the Nigerian Content Monitoring and Development Board (NCDMB) squandered over $500 million of the industry’s funds on equity investments in private establishments and non-performing loans.

In a strongly worded response on Tuesday to a recent media statement by Simbi Wabote, former executive secretary of NCDMB, Lokpobiri dismissed as “blatant lies from the pit of hell” claims that his office requested a N30 billion increase in NCDMB’s budget for the Minister’s office.

According to a statement signed by Nneamaka Okafor, Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Lokpobiri challenged Wabote to provide proof of such a conversation, emphasizing that “he who alleges must prove same.”